Early diagnosis of HIV saves lives | Nachrichten.at

Currently around 12,800 people in Austria are diagnosed with HIV. Many of them are diagnosed late and have unwittingly transmitted IH viruses to other people by that date. Some patients hide their infection for fear of stigma. Early diagnosis has a positive effect on the therapeutic success of those affected. The readily available diagnostic options, such as pharmacy rapid tests, also plead for responsible action in case of suspected infection.

In order to reduce the threshold of inhibition in HIV testing and thereby make an important contribution to the early detection of HIV infections, HIV self-tests have been offered without prescription in Austrian pharmacies since the beginning of the year. This summer. The test can quickly and easily determine your own HIV status.

"It is important to know your immune status and the HIV self-tests of pharmacy are an essential step towards the early detection of the disease," says Ulrike Mursch-Edlmayr, President of the Chamber of Austrian Pharmacists. "On the occasion of World AIDS Day, December 1, we would like to draw attention to the fact that anyone can do an HIV self-test with just a drop of blood at the same time. house in minutes

Currently, the new diagnoses – they were 510 in 2017 – remain stable at a low level for HIV, as Bernhard Benka of Department 4 (Communicable Diseases, Crisis Management and Disease Control) explains to the Ministry of Health. . The approximately 160,000 newly diagnosed HIV infections in 2017 represent a new record for the European Region of WHO with 53 states.

"back to health"